Another One Bites the Dust: The End of Frisco Disco at The Transfer

Further evidence that it's not just about the night, it's also about the club, the All Shook Down blog at the SFWeekly reports that "THE WORLD FAMOUS FRISCO DISCO" (apparently if you assert something in all caps, that makes it true) is leaving The Transfer, and is rather pissed about it. I'm tellin' ya, once a dumpy dive bar, always a dumpy dive bar, no matter how hard you try to hipster it up.

Event Review: Get Lucky at The Makeout Room

Okay, so one of the things leading to my recent, um, reticence around keeping the blog going has been a real lack of things I felt I could write about enthusiastically (there's actually a very long post about this brewing, but I'll spare you for the moment). However, last night I went out to such a neat space, and had such a good time, that I have to tell you all about it.

Candy and DJ6, of Bender fame, have started a new night called Get Lucky at The Makeout Room on 22nd and Valencia. It's every second Wednesday, and last night was their "soft launch" as they have to skip next month due to scheduling conflicts, so October will be their real grand premier. The music is the kind of dark-infused synthpop and electro that these kids do so well, but in digs that are well beyond that rathole known as The Transfer where they started out.

The Makeout Room is huge, and someone described it as having "creepy hunting lodge" decor on Citysearch. True, there are bejeweled deer heads, including one festooned with bras, and a head in a jar on the bar staring at you though big horn-rimmed glasses. There's also a crazy collection of silver Christmas tinsel and disco balls showering down from the ceiling, but what I liked best was that, OMG, there were actual booths and tables where you could sit down and have actual conversations! That's right, it's not just a place where you have to stand around posing with a drink in your hand, you can relax with your friends and not be overwhelmed by the music OR you can get up and dance around on the very spacious dancefloor. Last night there were plenty of people involved in both activities, including a group of about eight young women in almost identical outfits of black tops and jeans who danced together in a way very reminiscent of a Robert Palmer video (we left just as they started straddling the big support poles and posing for photos). Lord Kook took to the decks for about an hour and recreated a bit of the old Drunk and Horny vibe, and everybody seemed to have a really great time. Oh, and did I mention that well vodka drinks were $2 until 11PM? Let the partying begin.

Let's see, good music, fun decor, ample space for hanging out, ample space for dancing, and cheap strong drinks - what the hell more do you people want? On October 8 get your ass down to The Makeout Room and have an unpretentious night of drinking and dancing, you know you need it!

Last FSLD at Deco/Pup and Lord Kook on the Playa

Hi everybody,

breaking radio silence briefly to remind you all that Lord Kook and I will be hosting the last Fuck Shit, Let's Dance (FSLD) at Deco Lounge next Friday, August 22nd, from 9PM - 3AM, and this time it's FREE! It's been a lot of fun, and real learning experience, so we hope you all will come out and party with us at this location one last time. After Burning Man we have some plans in the works to start up another night in a location that's a bit more central and well-known, all of which will be revealed in good time.

Then on Saturday it's off to the Playa! We'll be at 7.30 and Alicante, with the Pixel Zombies camp if anyone wants to stop by and say hi. We're a camp of four people, but you'll be able to find us by the giant television we're setting up. Starting on Tuesday we plan on having a great line-up of programming for anyone who wants to contemplate media and the American Dream. Lord Kook and I will also be doing some DJing. On Monday night Lord Kook will be spinning synthpop at Camp Lustre, and then on Wednesday we'll be running all over the place: from 6-8PM we'll be tag-teaming at Space Elevator, then from midnight to 1AM Lord Kook will be at Lustre again, followed by another tag team matchup from 1-3AM at Camp Zoom, which will be hosting the Homo Depot party. Hope to see you on the dusty dancefloor!

A Little Vacation from the Scene

Hey kids,

you might have noticed that I've not been posting much of late - in fact, I didn't post a Saturday Night Guide for last weekend, whoops! A major reason is that my new job has turned out to be really intense, and where, in my previous situation, I was often able to find time to write posts, now it's pretty much work-work-work all day long, and sometimes into the evenings as well.

Another reason, though, is that I'm feeling pretty burnt out on "the scene." If you know me, or you've been reading this blog for a while, you can probably figure out why. I've never been that much of a cheerleader for the scene, and I've had my moments of wondering what it's all about, Alfie, but lately it seems that I've slipped into an even more morose state of mind about things than usual. So, this tells me that it's time to take a break.

Now is probably a good time for that, since next weekend I'll be out of town for a lovely retreat with some Sisters and other friends in the Mendo mountains, and then the following week it's off to Burning Man. Taken together that likely means I wouldn't be posting much anyway, so I'm going to cut myself a little extra slack.

I might make a couple more posts in the meantime, and when I come back from Burning Man I might also start another blog with a somewhat different focus. Right now, though, I feel the need to step back a bit, think about some things (including why I write this blog in the first place), and decide what I want to do next. For all of you who've followed my adventures over the past year and a half, I hope you will continue to do so, whatever the next chapter might be.

Best Review I've Read in Weeks

Something Awful reviews The Black Kids. Honestly, this is the best review I've read in weeks. I especially like the comment about disco down toward the bottom.